The "New Zealand Wars" or "Land Wars" or "Maori Wars" 1845/72

In the campaigns against Heke and Kawiti, these volunteers acted as assault pioneers, porters carrying forward the hospital establishment, as artillerymen manning the ships guns brought ashore to provide additional firepower to the assaulting for&s, as engineers constructing roads and stockades and as guides to the Imperial forces. 

Further south, in Wellington, other volunteers also undertook active service with the Imperial forces, assisting in several skirmishing operations in the Lower Hutt area as well as serving as garrison troops manning redoubts and conducting patrols. The efficiency and effectiveness of the volunteers on active service in the 1840s not only won praise, it also proved that the settlers' willingness to band together for protection was matched by sufficient military skill to provide that protection. It also provided an embryonic model for working relationships between the Imperial Army and locally raised citizen forces.

The working relationships between the forces of the Empire and colony were significantly enhanced by the number of ex-regular servicemen who made their home in New Zealand. Of New Zealand's total male population of nearly 34,000 in 18-58 over 2.000 or approximately six percent are  readily identifiable as ex-regular force servicemen. This six percent was constituted from three basic categories. 

• The first category was those soldiers stationed in New Zealand and who had requested their discharge in the colony. 
• The second group was those soldiers discharged elsewhere who had subsequently made their own way to the colony. By far the largest group of ex-regulars, were those who requested their discharge in New Zealand. 
  • One Regiment, the 58th, had over one thousand of its members take their discharge in New Zealand between 1845 and 1858. 

More difficult to determine, as far as numbers are concerned, are pensioners who made their own way to New Zealand. It is believed, for example, that a large number of the twelve hundred who had travelled to Australia between 1849 and 1850 came to New Zealand, but exact figures are unavailable. 

The last group were the Fencibles who were assisted to migrate between 1847 to 1852. Recruited in the United Kingdom the 'Royal New Zealand Fencibles' numbered just over seven hundred.

Brought out at the conclusion of the Northern War, the Fencibles were designed to act as a cordon sanitaire for the capital. Interestingly, they were settled on the southern approach routes to the capital. Clearly, at the conclusion of the Northern War the Ngapuhi were no longer seen as a threat, whereas the tribes of the Waikato Federation were. To protect Auckland's southern frontier the Governor settled the Fencibles, who were to act as sedentary part-time soldiers. 

The cost to the colony was free passage to New Zealand for the Fencibles and their family, a cottage complete with an acre of land, a regulation uniform, 1 shilling and three pence per day (13 cents). For the Fencibles the cost was seven years return of service, during which time they were required to muster every Sunday, attend twelve days training each year, work no more than five miles from home and be prepared for immediate mobilisation for active service. 

However, in its entire existence the Royal New Zealand Fencibles was only once mobilised for service. On the 17th April 1851 they were mobilised to secure vital communication routes and provide an expeditionary force against a two hundred and fifty strong taua (war party) of Ngati Paoa. The taua had been despatched to exact utu (revenge) from a Maori constable who had struck Te Hoera, a Ngati Paoa chief, on the head during a fracas. Fortunately the good offices of the Ngati Whatua defused the situation and calm was quickly restored.

Despite their lack of use, Auckland's Fencibles were coveted by New Zealand's other settlements. In Taranaki, settlers convinced of the military benefits of the Fencibles, met to demand similar schemes for their own province. On the opposite coast the local government undertook its own pensioner settlement scheme in 1859. Worried over the escalation of inter tribal fighting during 1858 and 1859, East Coast officials established the equivalent of a Fencible settlement at Ormond.

Though in the short term they were unused, in the long term, the Fencibles proved immensely important. Their training programmes, consisting of weekly meetings and week long encampments, provided a role model for future forces. Further, on completion of their seven years return of service the Fencibles were to provide key personnel for subsequently raised defence forces.

Theoretically all Fencibles, along with the bulk of the male population, were immediately members of the Militia on completion of their seven year service obligation. In practice, the New Zealand Militia, after 1847, was simply a paper force.

When trouble erupted between land sellers and anti-sellers in Taranaki in 1855, the Governor in Council decreed that any Maoris fighting on European land would be treated as rebels. To ensure that sufficient force was available to carry out the edict, Militia enrolment and training was ordered for Auckland, New Plymouth and Wellington.

With the rejuvenation of New Zealand's militia came the realization that the 1845 Militia Ordinance was inadequate.  The hostilities in Taranaki highlighted the inflexibility of New Zealand's defence statute, a statute that did not allow for partial mobilization, or the enrolment of voluntary units or exemptions from service.  Recognising the need for change, the newly established government, meeting in Assembly in its first full session in April 1858, agreed to the introduction of a new Militia Bill.  Influenced by politics, culture and geography, New Zealand's political leaders refashioned the 1845 Ordinance into an Act more suited to the times.  The 1858 Militia Act, which became law in mid-May, restated the pre-eminent position of the compulsory Militia while at the same time allowing for the establishment of voluntary units. A Militiaman 1858, New Zealand >>>

Within two years of its passage, the 1858 Act was to be tested by the resumption of hostilities within New Zealand. Governor Gore Browne's determination to proceed with the purchase of the 600 acre Pekupeku block at Waitara, led to the fateful break with Wiremu Kingi. Kingi had highlighted his opposition to the proposed sale of his ancestral home by Te Teira but the Governor underestimated his resolve. He assumed that European might would force Kingi to acquiesce. He had not foreseen the resumption of the New Zealand Wars, nor had he foreseen the spread of the conflict over most of the North Island.

The Governor's inability to predict the outcome of his actions is not surprising, given that Colonel Gold, the Commander of the Imperial troops stationed in New Zealand, thought that one volley would be sufficient to subdue the anti-land selling Maori. Acting on this advice the Executive Council decided on 25 January 1860 to proceed with the Waitara purchase and survey the land. If any resistance were to be offered to the survey, martial law was to be proclaimed and the land was to be held by force if necessary. Acting on these instructions, Octavius Carrington attempted to survey the Waitara block on 20 February 1860. 

The survey was obstructed immediately by Wiremu Kingi's followers. In response Lieutenant-Colonel G. F. Murray, the local commander, declared martial law and called out the Militia and Volunteers for active service. Excited and enthusiastic about the possibility of demonstrating their martial prowess, the response to the government's encouragement was immediate. So many citizens came forward that there were initially insufficient arms to equip them all. Many believed that it was time that the independently-minded Maori be brought to heel by a 'good licking' from the barrels of massed muskets.

Active service and the threat of hostilities escalating resulted in a massive increase in interest and participation in New Zealand defence forces. In Taranaki, Nelson, Wellington, Wanganui and Auckland new corps were formed at a frantic rate. Immediately they were formed, many units found themselves on duty.  In Wellington, for example, dozens of men rushed to join the Rifle Volunteers on the outbreak of war and no sooner had they donned their uniforms, when they were called out for service. They took over the garrison duties at Mount Cook so that the regular force detachment could be freed for service in Taranaki.

Wellington Rifle Volunteers

More Volunteers badges at

The quick growth of units made the government realise that volunteering was becoming extremely popular. As a result, the ministry reviewed the service conditions of the Volunteers and allowed them to serve as independent bodies rather than as junior partners of a Militia-Volunteer combination, as originally conceived in the framing of the 1858 Militia Act. At the same time the Government took the opportunity to re-examine the whole 1858 defence framework in the light of its operational use.

To reduce costs and improve on the earlier measure, the 1860 Militia Act Amendment Bill was passed, modeled principally on the Militia acts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the age of those liable for service was reduced from 60 to 55. It also placed the onus on those eligible for service to ensure that their names appeared on the Militia roll. Volunteer units were to be raised in their own right, rather than as part of the Militia.

. The encouragement given to New Zealand volunteering proved extremely successful. In 1860, thirty-two new volunteer units were formed. The growth of interest in volunteering resulting from the war and the government's encouragement was in fact so rapid and overwhelming, that the defence authorities were forced to provide an ad hoc general set of regulations outlining the terms which volunteer units would be expected to adhere to. This eight paragraphed set of regulations, gazetted in March 1860, required all volunteers to be available for 168 hours of training per year.

The government undertook to supply all basic equipment except uniforms which were to be selected and supplied by the members of the individual corps. In addition to the equipment, the government also undertook to provide a regular force cadre for each militia district. Consisting of an Adjutant and Sergeant-Major, this cadre was ultimately responsible for training and examining volunteers, as well as being responsible for communicating with the higher authorities.

Regulatory changes and organisational reforms and examinations, while important for force structure and control, did little to affect the roles assigned to New Zealand's military force. In Taranaki they continued to supply reinforcement for search and destroy operations, reconnaissance and general garrison duties, though after a year of war their enthusiasm had waned. On the eve of the Battle of Matarikoriko only half of the Taranaki citizen soldiers mustered, this so enraged the commander of the force, Lieutenant Colonel Carey, that he ordered their dismissal and replaced them with a detachment from the 12th Regiment. 

This decline in enthusiasm was probably an outward manifestation of a weariness of a war that had no quick or easy victory. All had had enough and were prepared to accept some form of negotiated peace. General Pratt meanwhile was methodically reducing pas by the time consuming unglamorous sap. Not surprisingly articles of peace were accepted by both sides after the Te Arai Pa surrendered.

Though accepted, not all considered them binding. Local papers complained that after fifteen months of strife, turmoil and anxiety Taranaki was still in the same perplexed turbulent state as when hostilities commenced. They predicted that the peace, in fact, was little more than a truce and further hostilities would eventuate.

Media belief that hostilities would be renewed was further fueled by the Governor's determination to strike a decisive blow against the Maori insurgents. On the advice of his Attorney General, Whitaker, the Governor forwarded to the Kingites an ultimatum demanding that they acquiesce to the new order. The Kingites, refused and Browne was forced to contemplate invading the Waikato.

The Imperial authorities were dissatisfied with Browne's blundering escalation of hostilities and before he could implement any plans for an invasion of the Waikato he was replaced by Sir George Grey. Immediately on arrival Grey countermanded Browne's orders and endeavored to reconcile the Kingites to British sovereignty by diplomacy. Grey's policy of conciliation was pursued for eighteen months. Though conciliatory, Grey also prepared for the possibility of war. He organised the reinforcement of the regular force garrisons, arranged for the construction of a military transport road, established a Commissariat Transport Corps and supported the construction of river gunboats in New South Wales shipyards.

A major element, in Governor Grey's military build-up was the colony's citizen forces. They undertook the garrison duties for Auckland while the regular force detachments were busy constructing the military road south. More importantly, the citizen forces were again completely restructured. Prior to 1862 the defence authorities in large measure responded to the demands of the citizens. Grey altered this emphasis by instigating yet another examination of the nation's defence requirements and then overhauled the citizen forces. 

He initiated the passage of the Colonial Defence Act of 1862. This raised the first Regular Force in New Zealand, the Colonial Defence Force, a body of mounted men not to exceed 500 in total. He also encouraged the formation of volunteer units that met direct defence requirements. In January 1862 a new set of volunteer regulations consisting of sixteen paragraphs were drafted, agreed to by the Governor in council and subsequently gazetted. The most important provisions of the new regulations was the total disbandment of the existing volunteer force and the encouragement of individuals to enlist.

More important than the regulations encouraging individuals to join units or the control mechanisms of those units, was the decisions on the total force structure. After careful consultation with General Cameron, the Governor and his council promulgated an establishment for the volunteer force. The colony was divided into nine districts with a detailed list of 33 units eligible for enrollment in each.

Grey also arranged for the enrollment of 'regular Volunteer companies'. Unlike units of the Volunteer force proper, which were enrolled under the provisions of the 1858 Militia Act and its amendments, the 'regular' units were raised under exclusive regulations. Hostilities were renewed in Taranaki when Governor Grey, deciding the Waitara purchase illegal, decided to return it to Kingi. Prior to formally handing back the land, Grey ordered the reoccupation of the Tataraimaka block in Taranaki.

 Considering these acts as provocative the Kingites responded by ambushing two escorts and Taranaki was once again transformed from a garden province to a battlefield. Immediately the Taranaki citizen soldiers were to the fore. Determined to take the initiative they formed a Bush Ranger unit under Major H. Atkinson to undertake an aggressive patrolling in the heavily forested lands. Undoubtedly the resumption of war was as important to the expansion of the colony's military forces as was Grey's administrative and organisational reforms. The resumption of war in Taranaki was quickly followed by war in the Waikato.

	The New Zealand War Medal. The New Zealand War Medal for veterans of the Maori Wars of 1845-7, 1860 and 1865-72 was not sanctioned until 1869.  It was awarded to survivors, only in the Imperial forces and the colonial troops received theirs on the added condition that they had been under fire.
Above. Undated NZ War Medal (Maori wars) as awarded 1865 To Pte. J (John) Redgrave 3rd Waikato Regiment. Previous owner states Medal issued 5th November 1873. Records indicate Redgrave served in Cambridge & Orakau 1864. Born 1833-Died 7th December 1911

Dated version

The medal is silver and was worn from a dark blue ribbon with a broad central red strip. The Obverse showed the head of Queen Victoria and the reverse a wreath and dates of service and the words "New Zealand" and "Virtutis Honor". The number of varieties of this medal, including those that were undated, covers twenty nine dates. Each medal bears the recipient's name and regiment, the latter difference alone giving scope for many varieties. A military pension was available to anyone who served for the Crown in the Maori Wars and was awarded a medal for active service (Colonial Forces).

After Cameron crossed the Mangatawhiri, in July 1863, war with the Waikato tribes was inevitable. The commencement of an escalation in hostilities raised fears of attack throughout the North Island, especially when it was realised that the interior tribes had, in fact, amassed a large stockpile of arms and ammunition. The fear of native attack was heightened after the Europeans' destruction of their settlement, while lower down the North Island Wellington settlers feared that there was little hope if the capital could not protect itself.

Cameron's invasion forces pushed forward into the Waikato, forcing the Waikato tribes to retire into the King Country and allowing the vacated lands to be confiscated. To provide long term protection to this new and exposed frontier, the government arranged for the settling of sedentary soldiers, in much the same fashion as the original Fencibles. Four regiments of Waikato Militia were raised and the newly recruited settler-soldiers were offered a farm and rations in return for military service.

The Government also approved the formation of the Forest Rangers' under Major W. Jackson. Based on the Taranaki Bush Rangers, they proved so successful as guerilla fighters that a second company under Major G. F. Von Tempsky was raised.

By 1864 the War in the North Island appeared to be winding down. Rewi Maniapoto had been forced to retreat into the King Country while in the Bay of Plenty the repulse at Gate Pa had been avenged by the slaughter at Te Ranga. However, the de-escalation of the war was not to result in a total cessation of hostilities. Rather it led to a period of transformation from conventional warfare to guerilla, almost terrorist, campaigns. This new phase in the conflict was ushered in by the rise of the Pai (Good and Peaceful) religion, more commonly referred to as Hau Hau, under the leadership of the prophet Te Ua Haumene. 

It reached its height under two successful guerilla terrorist leaders Te Kooti and Titokowaru on the East and West Coasts of the North Island. At the same time that the nature of the New Zealand hostilities was transforming, the responsibility for internal defence of the colony was also changing. Until 1865 the Governor, as Commander-in-chief, had theoretical control over the military, though in practice he delegated his responsibility to the commander of the British Forces. In 1865 significant changes were to occur as a result of the pressure put on the New Zealand colonial government by the Imperial authorities who were determined to reduce the cost of defending the Empire.

The desire of the Imperial Authorities to reduce spending on defence was not new. As early as 1846, Earl Grey had advocated a reduction in Imperial garrisons and the introduction of colonial contributions for local defence. This concept of reduced central spending and increased colonial contribution was more fully developed thirteen years later. An inter-departmental inquiry comprising of representatives from the War Office, Treasury and Colonial Office recommended in 1859, that colonies should make greater efforts in local defence. 

These calls were followed up in 1861 by a parliamentary select committee under the chairmanship, of Arthur Mills. The select committee's report proposed that only strategically important military posts should be manned by Imperial garrisons. All other posts in the Empire, including Canada and the Australasian colonies to be self-reliant. 

By March 1862 most of Britain's leading politicians accepted the new divisions of responsibility for defence. In that month a resolution was passed through the House of Commons recognising Imperial responsibility for defence against perils arising from Imperial policy but noting that self-governing colonies ought to accept responsibility for internal order, a resolution that was perceived by New Zealand's European colonists as a pointed barb, directed primarily at them. Such a perception had some validity, the Duke of Newcastle, while in charge of the colonial office, believed that the War in New Zealand had been forced upon the Governor by the avaricious colonists. Newcastle's determination was further strengthened by the advice given by J. R. Godley, who argued that colonies should be self-reliant in internal defence for their own benefit and honour.

More importantly, such a scheme was cheaper for the British taxpayer. When Gladstone presented the 1864 budget, it fore-shadowed a reduction in the military vote. This reduction was to be achieved not only be reducing Imperial garrisons but also by a user pays policy for troops. The previous year, self-governing colonies had been informed that for each imperial soldier stationed on their shores they would be charged £40 per annum. The New Zealand authorities had been closely monitoring the clear signals emanating from London. Indeed, they were constantly endeavouring to counter the Imperial Authorities' attempts to force self-reliance for internal defence. At the time of the Mills Select Committee, the New Zealand Parliament formed its own secret bicameral committee to investigate and report on its internal defence requirements. 

The War in New Zealand: Storming the Rifle Pits at Te Ranga, 21 June 1864

It also reviewed what the colony, should, or should not, pay toward maintaining an Imperial garrison. Given the uncertain state of affairs internally and the size of European population and commerce, the committee hoped that the colony would only have to contribute F-5 per soldier. To answer the criticism that the colony had not done sufficient to prepare its citizens for war, the colonial government claimed that they did not wish to project any appearance of aggressive action. Such an appearance, they argued, could be easily misconstrued by the natives and lead to the outbreak of war, which they wished to avoid.

To a large degree, the maneuverings by the New Zealand government were a waste of effort. Though the Imperial forces were retained for the large scale invasion operation of the Waikato, the decision to withdraw the garrison remained. By 1870 all Imperial troops were to be recalled from New Zealand. Not all viewed the withdrawal of the Imperial garrison with concern. Some realized self-reliance could be of some benefit as it would end dual control over native affairs. Leading the political initiatives in New Zealand for assuming responsibility of internal defence were William Fox and Frederick Weld.

Both were in close communication with Godley, who advised them to take the opportunity to gain control and responsibility for native affairs. Not surprisingly when Weld was called upon to form a ministry in October 1864, he did so on the condition that the self-reliant policy for defence would be supported by the Governor. Within weeks Weld had laid before the House a defence policy for New Zealand in a post-Imperial garrison era. To maintain internal security, Weld proposed a small regular force of 1,500 Armed Constabulary manning frontier positions and supported by citizen soldiers, as and when required.

In 1867 Weld's proposals became firm policy with the passage of the Armed Constabulary Act. Superceding the 1862 Colonial Defence Act, the new Act established a force which consisted of both mounted and infantry units as well as combining military with police functions. At its strongest in the late 1860's, when pursuing Titokowaru and Te Kooti, it numbered nine divisions. Each division had between sixty and eighty constables led by an inspector and controlled by two sub-inspectors assisted by one senior sergeant, three sergeants and three corporals. Aided by Volunteers, Militia and Kupapa (friendly) Maori units, the Armed Constabulary completed the task of subjugating Maori resistance to the authority of the crown. 

Using a combination of Field Force units together with garrison forces at strategically placed redoubts, the Armed Constabulary proved to be an effective military force. The Field Force undertook search and destroy operations, while the garrisons provided secure bases. In early 1872 they brought the New Zealand Wars to an end, not by formal agreement or treaty, but by the imposition of the reality that armed resistance was no longer viable.

During the New Zealand Wars approximately 560 British and Colonial troops were killed whilst on active service and a further 1,050 were wounded. Over the same period approximately 250 Kupapa (friendly) Maori were killed and up to 2,000 "hostile" Maori were killed, with an unknown number of Maori wounded -on each side.

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